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Monday, April 16, 2012

No Capes

I saw 1000 Ways to Die and stopped to watch. A man was impersonating a superhero, and he had the costume complete with cape. He saw some delinquents on top of a building smoking illegal drugs, and decided to interfere. He pushed one of the kids and the kids began to approach him. Outnumbered, he backed up. However, he tripped over his own cape and fell off the side of the building, landing in such a way that his ribs ripped his heart open.

I think any of us that write can understand how we sometimes include unnecessary details in our stories that really just gum up everything and basically, almost kill it. I've had to look long and hard at questions brought up by beta-readers and ask myself, "Is this a cape? Does this thing have any purpose? Or is it just something that's gonna drag me into a jet engine."

As an aside note, encouraged by feedback I got on my picture of Kolin that I posted a week or so ago, I decided to draw my protagonist, Jordan. This is 100% original artwork. I did it with Prismacolor coloring pencil on illustration board. Then I scanned in the original on my scanner and enhanced all of the colors, added effects, and redid problematic areas using Adobe Photoshop Elements. Please be kind, I am not a professional artist. I wanted to make sure that Jordan looks 17 and not how a "high school student played by 27-year-olds" looks (Think GLEE, SMALLVILLE, etc.). I'm happy with the result. Have a great Monday.

49 comments:

I like watching 1000 Ways to Die, though that show makes me paranoid. As far as writing goes, I think avoiding the deadly cape has been my largest challenge, though I think (I hope) I'm getting better.

...its all about finding that happy medium. A few extra crumbs sprinkled over the main dish can personalize one's project, cause the reader to snuggle up to the action. This is a perfect example however, of having too much of a good thing, which causes our readers to doze off, and yes, our capes are sucked into the jetstream.

RE: Capes. In "The Dark Knight Returns," Batman's cape was weighted to be used like a club. He also in that story revealed that he has the Bat symbol on his chest so that criminals will shoot at it, since it's easier to armor his chest than his head.

So sometimes a cape is not a cape.

On the other hand, Mr Bunches likes "The Incredibles" and sometimes will want to wear his red shirt, which he calls his "incredibles" shirt.

Love the artwork. The "no cape" analogy is one I use in real life, or at least ideally would like to practice in real life. It pertains to all forms of communication. If something doesn't add value, then it's not worth stating.

The eyes are dead on perfect in your drawing of Jordan. I also like the lean jaw line as he's coming out of his round-faced early adolescent period. Notice that Jedi usually toss off their robes before they get into a lightsaber duel? They must have gotten the cape memo.

WOW! Michael, you are more talented than I ever imagined. And believe me, I can see how talented you are, but yet you still seem to amaze me. Wonderful work & I like the idea about "capes" in our writing. So true!

@L.G. Keitner: It's an interesting show. Some of the deaths are way out there. It makes you realize how frail human beings actually are.

@Suzanne: Yay. I'm glad he looks the age he is supposed to.

@Elliot: Ooo crumbs. Now you've introduced a cooking metaphor. I guess it just goes to show that writing can be compared to anything.

@Jack: Thanks Jack, I'll hit you back soon.

@Cindy: Yes, I drew it myself. 100%

@Rusty: Thank you sir. I'll take that as a compliment from a professional.

@Alex: Yep

@Em-Musing: Thank you :) You've been in Mexico sipping margheritas on a beach.

@Valentina: Oh thank you. You might have a go at what? Drawing? It's kind of fun if not time-consuming.

@L.G. Smith: I'm not an incredible artist. I can only draw young attractive boys. If given something else to draw...say old women, fat people, old people...I fail miserably. I have a very narrow focus. That's why I'm not a real artist.

@A Daft Scots Lass: Thank you

@P.T.: So it's like the cape in Spawn. Todd McFarlane will want his copyright back.

@Clarissa: Thanks for the compliment. And yeah...people can make stupid decisions. I remember having a client once that had a worker's comp claim...he was made into a quadriplegic because he jumped in the way of a wrecking ball in an attempt to stop it when it broke free of its mooring. So 150-pound guy versus ten ton wrecking ball. It wasn't pretty.

@Elise: Thank you miss.

@Moody: I'm glad you like it.

@Tim: Thank you sir!

@Matthew: Thank you.

@Briane P: Thank you for the nice comment. I'll be by to visit the Best of Everything soon.

@M.J.: mmmhmmm

@Brinda: Squee. I'm glad I nailed the age right.

@Danette: Thank you :)

@Charity: Everyone? Who else are you speaking about? But yeah there's a lot of writers that can whip out a sketch or two. I think it comes with the territory.

@Charlie: I'm glad the Incredibles is getting a sequel.

@Jay: Thank you sir.

@Tomeka: Hmmm. I'm going to disagree on communication. Sometimes we just need to hear what other people are saying, whether or not it brings any value to the table. Sometimes, people (like plants) need to be watered. The water I'm referring to is compassion. As an example, my parents rarely add anything to the table as far as value goes...but I try to listen and be there for them in their old age to hear their words.

@Dezmond: Thank you sir. Approval from the Hollywood Spy should be an award or something. :P

@Fairview: Thank you.

@Falen: Thank you.

@Leslie: I love the eyes! I worked on them for an hour all the way zoomed in so I could see each pixel on photoshop. I colored them one by one.

@Leigh: Thanks for visiting Leigh! And thank you for the compliment. We should do another writer get-together this summer :))

@Alyson: Thanks for your support. I could put up a few more. I've got sketches around. Some of them are naked people though. I better not put any of those up.

@J.L.:"Jordan" not "Jason". But you're from Jamaica so I'll forgive you.

I think your illustration is successful. He looks like a seventeen year old to me. You might consider adding a bit more shadowing to the right side of his face to match the three dimensional look you've achieved with his hands. Nice job.

You don't need kindness for comments on your artwork because the obvious fact is you are an impressive artist. The portrait of Jordan is great. And I'm not just saying that because (to my unending frustration) my own artistic abilities somehow never evolved past seventh grade.